LAWRENCE COUNTY -- Amendment 11 stems from a rural Lawrence County community’s desire to stay rural.

The amendment would keep municipalities outside Lawrence County from enforcing a police or planning jurisdiction across county lines into Lawrence County. Although the law would apply to all municipalities that border Lawrence County, it was conceived primarily with the city of Decatur in mind, according to State Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton, who sponsored the proposed amendment.

According to Johnson, Decatur does not currently enforce building codes or collect a sales tax within the portion of its police jurisdiction that extends into Lawrence County, but it occasionally does sometimes answer police calls in there.

Decatur officials, who did not immediately return calls for comment, told the Public Affairs Research Council, a think tank, that the city does not enforce its police jurisdiction.

The fear is, according to Johnson, that Decatur might eventually step up enforcement in rural Lawrence County in the future.

Amendment 11

What it would do: Keep non Lawrence County municipalities from enforcing the parts of their planning and police jurisdictions that cross into Lawrence County.

What it would cost: Nothing.

Who is for it: Some rural Lawrence County residents.

Who is against it: The Decatur Daily, which says that industrial firms could shy away from locating in the county if they can't get city public safety services.

A community in Lawrence County tried to incorporate itself a few years ago, Johnson said. That effort failed, but one of the primary rationales for pursuing incorporation was to avoid “regulation without representation” if Decatur did try to start enforcing zoning rules in the area, Johnson said. If amendment 11 passes, that will no longer be a concern.

The amendment was to be a local initiative voted on in Morgan and Lawrence counties, but the Alabama Attorney General’s office decided it should be voted on state wide, according to PARCA. In order for it to become law, it will have to be approved state wide, in Lawrence County and in all seven counties that share a boarder with it.

The Decatur Daily’s editorial board has criticized the amendment, saying it addresses a nonexistent problem and has the potential to provoke unintended consequences. Specifically, the board wonders if industrial developers might avoid the affected rural areas if they can’t get municipal public safety support from Decatur.